Expansible last form for attaching soles to shoes



May 22, 1934.

' c G. BROSTROM EXPANSIBLE LAST FORM FOR ATTACHING SOLES TO SHOES FiledNbv. 16. 1951 s Shets-Sheet 1 y 1934- C. G. BROSTROM 59,565

EXPANSIBLE LAST FORM FOR ATTAC HING SOLES TO SHOES Filed No 16, 1931 sSheets-Sheet 2 JO 1 n I fi/v/vma May 22, 1934- c. G. BROSTROMEXPANSIBLE} LAST FORM FOR ATTACHING SOLES TO SHOES Filed m 1s, 1931 sSheets-Sheet s Fig. 5.

a no. U,

Patented May 22, 1934 EXPANSIBLE ms'r FORM For: Armenian some r0 snonsCharles G. Brostrom, Ly'nn, lllasa, assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationNovember 16, 1931, Serial No. 575,434

14 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of attaching $0165 to shoes by thecement process and enibraces the aspects of both method and apparatus.It is illustrated in connection with an apparatus for attaching repairsoles to worn shoes.

Such work as this is normally performed in shoe repair shops which arenot equipped to attach the soles accordingto the methods used in shoefactories manufacturing cement process shoes. Soles are attached to newshoes of this type by bringing together a shoe on its last and a solewith a film of cement betweensth'em, and

pressing the shoe and sole against a flexible pad to cause the shoe andsole to adhere. The repair shop will not have the last on which the shoewas made, and even if such,last' were available there would sometimes beconsiderable diiiflcultyI in using it owing to the alteration in theshape of the shoe through wear. Furthermore, the expensive machineryused in the attaching of soles to new shoes is not available in therepair shop.

7 An object of the present invention is to provide a method andapparatus for attaching soles to worn shoes which can be used in repairshops to produce satisfactory work at an expense within the means of theoperators of such shops.

In view of the unavailability of the last on which the shoe was made animportant problem to be solved is the provision of a form to go insidethe shoe. I have provided for this purpose a shoe receiving memberadapted to be automatically conformed to the shape of at least the lowerportion of the interior of the shoe. This, as illustrated, comprises anelastic bag filled with fluent material, by which I am hereinto beunderstood to mean material capable of flow such as gaseous liquid, orfinely or substantially uniformly dividecl solid material such as sandor the like. As illustrated herein, this material is a granular solid,in the-form of small steel balls. Means is also provided to hold thismaterial in suficiently tight and close formation to. prevent materialalteration in the shape of the form. under pressure.

It is contemplated that the shoe, with this form in it and a cementedsoleapplied to its bottom, shall be placed on a mold or pad member theoperative sole-engaging surface of which may be rigid and shapedsubstantially to that of the shoe bottom, or flexible, as for exampleformed by a rubber pad, and that the whole'structure thus far described,including the shoe and sole, shall be placed in a pressing machine toforce the form and the pad or mold toward each other. I have found thatthe illustrated fluent material under such treatment partakes of thecharacteristics of both a solid and a fluid; vthat it flows sufficientlyto bring suitable pressure to bear all over the shoe bottom, but thatits internal friction enables it to stand up under a pressure adequateto effect satisfactory adhesion between the shoe and sole withouttending to force it out laterally into bulged and weakened places in theshoe upper to the further detriment thereof.

These and other features and aspects of the invention will be understoodfrom the following description of the method involved, and of anapparatus by means of which it may be practiced, taken in connectionwith ings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the pressing machinewith the shoe in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the inside form; Fig. 3 is a detailcross-section of the box which 7 holds the outside form;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of Fig. 2

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical cross-section of the shoe and forms;and

Fig. 6 is a detail showing an alternative form of the apparatus shown inFig. 5.

The drawings illustrate a pressing machine in connection with the innerform and the outer mold or pad member discussed above. The illustratedmachine will be described first.

Its main frame 10 carries a pad box supporting arm 12 pivoted at itsrear end to the frame at 14. This arm is supported at its front end andoperated up and down by toggle links 16, 18 provided with stops 2o, 22to prevent overthrowing in either direction.

A bracket 26 mounted on the frame 10 above the-arm 12 carries a lug 28vertically adjustable in it by means of a slide rodBo and a screw 32. Inthis lug is pivoted an equalizing lever 34..

The box 36 for the outer mold or pad'member stands on the arm 12. It isnot attached to the arm and is freely removable, as will be seen. Thebottom of this box consists merely of a flange around its lower insideedge on which rests a plate 36a which is substantially smaller than thehorizontal cross-section of the box. The plate 36a is screw bolted to aclamp bar 361) which extends acrossthe bottom of the box on the outside.This structure permits the longitudinal adjustment of the plate 36a inthe box. The outside pressing form 3'7 is carried by the plate 36a'andis doweled to it to prevent accidental displacement. As illus trated,this form is arranged for the attachment of a repair sole or half soleand it therefore exthe form shown in the accompanying drawother stirrup38 is shown as terminating in eyes tends backward only to apoint shortof theheel breast portion of the shoe so that the heel of the shoe canextend downward past its rear end. This form is preferably made of woodand I have found that the same form will sufllce for a large range oneat least of which, as 40, is pivoted at 40c so that it can be swungaside to insert a shoe. The

sliding on pins 38a to permit longitudinal adjustment of the stirrups. 7These stirrups carry plung- 44 and held down in any acquired position bypawls and teeth at 46, 48. Each plunger carries at its lower end asuitable abutment'fl) or 52, the one which operates on the toe of theshoe being shaped to fit the to'eapproximately. when the box 36 isplaced in position on the Sup rting arm 12, the plungers 42 are underthe ends of the equalizing lever 34. I

The pressing form which is placed inside the shoe constitutes animportant feature of the invention. This form is shown in detail inFigs. 2 and 5. It has a metal upper portion, the lower part 56 of whichis shaped approximately to the contour of the instep portion of a shoe.This portion56 extends backward to approximately the heel breastlocality of a shoe held on it and has fastened to its lowerxsurface ashaped metal plate 58 having the contour of the'vamp portion of theshoe. The front portion of the member 56 is hol- 4 low, as shown at 60,and this hollow portion opens through the plate 58. Above the hollowportion is mounted a reservoir 62, surmounted by a cap 64 which is, ofsubstantial vertical extent and has a telescoping fit on the reservoir62. It is provided with a screw 68 which may cooperate with one of aseries of slots 68 to operate as a bayonet joint to hold the cap on thereservoir inan adjusted position,'or may be used as a simple set screwfor the same purpose.

A foot-shaped bag 70 of flexible material, preferably resilient, such asrubber, is fastened in any desired way below the plate 58 and member 56.The hollow 60 opens into this bag. The bag '70, hollow 60, and reservoir62 are completely filled with granular material 'Il and there is asurplus of such material confined by the cap 64. I have found steelballs of about inch diameter well adapted for the purpose. The functionof this granular material is to expand the bag 70 inside of a shoe insuch manner asto give it substantially the shape of the inside of theshoe.

The rear part of the member 56 carries a horizontal sliding block 72 onwhich is mounted a vertically sliding heel block 74. Screws '16, 78 holdthese blocks in their adjusted positions. A lug '19 is provided on therear end of the member 56 to take the pressure of the rear plunger 42above described. Thislug 79 is mounted on a spindle 79a which isremovably mounted in a hole in the member. 56.

Suppose now that a sole 80 is tobe cemented to a shoe 82. The operatoradjusts the heel block 74' horizontally and vertically to bring the forminto an approximate fit with the shoe, removes the lug 79 and invertsthe form on a bench jack pin which enters thehole normally occupied bythe spindle 79a, The cap 64 is adjusted outward .sufiiciehtlyvto permitthe balls 71 to run down out oi.- the bag '70. The shoe is then slippedover the form which is then turned right side up.

Theballs'llnmbackintothebagandwitha little iarring,if ,causeittotaketheshape ofthelowerpartoftheinside of the shoe. The operator then drops thecap down until it rests upon theballs and fastens it in position, and

replaces the his 19.

The operator new places the shoe with the form in it, and a cementedsole 80 beneath it, on the form 3'! in the box 36, adjusting the stirrup38 and the plate 36c if necessary to bring the form 87,-the shoe 82 andabutment 50 into proper relation, so that the front plunger 42 willdescend over the end of the plate 58 and'the rear plunger over the lug79 which, as shown, is of substantial ers 42 normally spring-pressedupward by springs 'fore-and-aft extent to insure contact. He may thenlower the plungers against the pressure of the springs 44 to bring theabutments 50, 52 into contact with' the toe of the shoe and the lug '19respectively. The pawls 46 and teeth 48 will hold them in position.

All the work so far-done will-be performedapart from the machine shownin Fig.- 1. The

toggle 16, 18 and raises the arm 12 about its pivot") 14, thus exertingpressure on the shoe and sole and forcing the sole to adhere to theshoe. Further movement of the plungers 42 will'be held by the Dawls 46as before, and the box 36 and shoe can be then removed from the machineand set aside for the cement to set. The toggle 16, 18 is so arrangedthat it cannot be thrown past dead center, and the spring '90 breaks itand releases the box 36 as soon as the operator releases the treadle.

I have found that the pressure transmitted by the balls '71 to the shoeis not like a fluid pressure, equal in all drections, since the granularmaterial tends to lock or arch" and does not flow as readily as a liquidor gas. It flows readily enough to force the bag '10 into contact withthe shoe but as soon as it meets with any real resistance to its flow itbecomes quasi solid due to its own internal friction. -It thus does notflow so freely into those localities inthe shoe which have been undulystretched and weakened by wear and therefore does not tend to stretchthem further, as a purely fluid pressure might do, to the furtherdetriment of the shoe.

I have found that this quasi-solid nature of the granular m'aterialpersists under a pressure quite adequate to effect satisfactory adhesionbetween the shoe and the sole, just enough deformationtaking place -toeffect sumcient pressure at all points of the shoe bottom, so that thepressure impressed by the machine is transmitted mainly vertically intothe shoe bottom and sole without tending to distort the shoe laterally.I thus secure the advantages of a rigid internal form tension 3'; forthe form 37, shown in Fig. 6. The

extension 37a, as illustrated, is mounted on the form 37 at its rear endby dowels and clamped in place by a screw and extends back under theheel end or the shoe. It will be noticed that the bag '70 is long enoughto extend somewhat to the rear of the heel breast portion of the shoe sothat a full sole will be caused to adhere to the shoe back of this heelbreast locality. The subsequent attachment of a heel will fasten therear end of the sole firmly in place.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An expansible hollow last-like shoe-receiving member containingfinely divided solid 'material.

2. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having an expansibleportion and a granular filling in said portion. and means foradjustingthe effective internal volume of the form.

3. A hollow elastic-walled form for supporting the inside surface of ashoe, filled with granular material and constructed and arranged to holdits contained granular material against loose movement when in the shoe.

4. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having an expansibleportion and a granular metallic filling in said expansible portion.

5. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having an expansibleportion filled with metallic balls.

6. A hollow last-like form for supporting a.

shoe, having a flexible portion filled with metal lic balls, and meansfor adjusting the volume of the non-flexible portion of the form.

7. A last-like form for supporting a shoe having a rigid upper portion,an expanslble lower portion, and a granular filling in said lowerportion. v

8. A hollow last-like form of variable volume for supporting a shoe, anda granular filler completely filling said form.

9. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having an expansiblebottom portion, a granular filling in said expansible bottom portion,and means for varying the normal volume of said expansible bottomportion.

10. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having a rigid upperportion, said rigid portion being adjustable as to volume, said iormhaving also a lower portion having an expansible wall, and a granularfiller in said form, said filler being operative to expand the lowerportion upon diminution of the volume of the. upper portion.

11. A hollow last-like form. for supporting a shoe, having a rigid upperportion shaped to contact with the instep portion and upper vamp portionof a. shoe, said rigid portion constituting a reservoir and beingadjustable as to volume, said form having also an expansible lowerportion arranged for contact with the bottom and lower vamp portion ofthe shoe, and a granular filling in said form.

12. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having a rigidportion and a flexible expansible portion, said rigid portion carrying ahollow cup joined thereto by a telescoping joint, a granular fillerfilling said form, said filler being movable to expand said expansibleportion and being held in position by telescoping said cup toward theexpansible portion.

13. A hollow last-like form for supporting a shoe, having an expansiblelower portion containing solid granular material, a rigid upper portionarranged to underlie the instep portion of a shoe on said form, a rearportion adjustable on said rigid portion to contact with the heel end ofthe shoe to effect proper iore-and-aft location or the form in; theshoe, and means for expanding said lower portion.

14. A hollow last-like form for supporting a n shoe, having anexpansible lower portion containing solid granular material, a rigidupper portion arranged to underlie the instep portion of a shoe on saidform, a rear portion longitudinallyand vertically adjustable on saidrigid portion to contact with the heel end of the shoe to effectproper'iore-and-ait location of the form in the shoe, and means forexpanding said lower portion.

CHARLES G. BROSTROM. no

